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Are black holes the actual edge of the universe? Because spacetime is another dimension, I would assume the universe doesn’t have perceived corners or edges. At least humans cannot perceive it. The edges are the black holes scattered across the universe. Is that right?

Qmechanic
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Mekkel
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1 Answers1

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Are black holes the edge of our universe ?

No, at least not in the way that physicists and mathematicians understand an edge ("boundary" would be a more technical term). An edge or boundary to a surface is something that cannot be crossed without leaving the surface - but we know that the event horizon of a black hole can be crossed. We can even define a spacetime co-ordinate system which is smooth at the event horizon, so the event horizon is not even like a "crease" in spacetime.

It is true that we don't know what happens at the centre of a black hole because our current theories of physics break down at that point (which is popularly called the black hole's singularity) - but that is a shortcoming of our current physics. We still have no reason to think that there is an "edge" to spacetime anywhere inside a black hole.

gandalf61
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  • I did some research and found this on an article from old Harvard article. What do they mean ? “A black hole is a true "hole" in space: Anything that crosses the edge of the hole - called the "horizon" of the hole - is swallowed forever. For this reason, black holes are considered an edge of space, a one-way exit door from our universe; nothing inside a black hole can ever communicate with our universe again, even in principle.” I’ll post the link if needed . Idk if I can or allowed – Mekkel Aug 15 '23 at 05:34
  • Thanks btw for the answer. So according to the article it could be considered the edge of space. But yeah I guess I was talking about spacetime. If space and time flip in a black hole, is that not considered a boundary? Wouldn’t that be the end of spacetime as we know it? – Mekkel Aug 15 '23 at 06:13